Issue: ALL memory allocation as wired memory

[protechtedd]

This problem just started on me yesterday. See attached image.

First of all, up until 3 days ago my system only had 6gm of RAM installed (DDR3 1600, not that it matters much). Then since I was always running out of RAM and heavily depending on my Free-mem app, I decided to buy another 2gb stick to max my system out at 8gb (all slots filled).

On the first boot after install, everything was perfectly fine.

That night I shut down and went to bed. The next morning I booted up and proceeded normally. I didn't notice a problem until I looked at my memory gauge in the taskbar (iStat). I have attached an image of what it looks like now.

The problem is that all apps load their memory under wired memory, which is meant to be untouchable system memory only. This means that my RAM fills and stays filled up even when an app is supposed to go into "inactive" memory. Additionally, my Free-mem app cannot touch wired memory, so it becomes useless.

Unless I can fix this problem, this extra stick of 2gb RAM is practically useless to me. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

So far I've tried booting into verbose mode with no success.

PS- I did nothing to directly cause this problem, no system tweaks, no bios tweaks, nothing.

Thanks for anyones help.

 

[SnapMan]

Can you look in Activity Monitor to confirm it is not an iStat issue?

FWIW, I used to have a problem with Firefox cache management being set too high and using an ever increasing amount of memory....what version of FF are you using. Can you try to quit programs one at a time and see if things return to normal (try using Safari for a bit).

On each startup or restart is memory as you would expect?

 

[protechtedd]

Ok, this is really strange... Half way through yesterday I looked at my memory gauge and, by complete random, the wired memory dumped its excess into active memory (where it should be), and even after a restart it stayed fixed.

I'm confused by this tom foolery... But at least it works correctly now.

Thanks for the attempted help. If it happens again I'll be taking lots of notes and come back here to post results.

 

[protechtedd]

Everything was fine for a couple of days, and now today I booted up and the problem came back. Again, no idea why...

Anymore ideas of things I can try to fix this issue?

 

[powerpcg5]

What does your OSX Activity Monitor show?

for kicks, I run as many programs as I can to see what my memory usage is.
And I can still use my computer*! (no crashing)

* Old, old, ancient PowerPC Dual 2.5Ghz (10.5.8)

 

[protechtedd]

Sure, here is my activity monitor on a fresh boot today. (still problem)

 

[powerpcg5]

Hmmm... My Wired memory *always* ranges from 13 to 15% of my total memory. It doesn't matter if I have 2 programs running, or if I have a bunch of programs running (see file attachment from above post.) It constantly stays the same, give or take a few percentage points. The free memory gets reduced as more and more programs I run, but my Wired memory stays pretty much constant.

Your Wired memory is about 17% of your total memory. I think it's still close to the 13-15% numbers I'm getting.

But then again, I'm OSX10.5 and PowerPC, you're on 10.6 and Intel platform. So I don't know if this is an apples vs. oranges comparison.

FWIW, ever since moving from Windows to OSX several years ago, I've stopped looking at "Task Manager" and being concerned about it... I just let OSX do what it wants. Even on my measly 3GB, I can do everything stable, even running multiple programs. i.e..... We're not in Kansas anymore.. i.e. We're not using Windows anymore.

The real question is how many programs can you run before things start slowing down.. (note: slowing down, your OSX shouldn't crash...) If your hackintosh is crashing, maybe the problem is somewhere else?

 

[protechtedd]

Thanks for the reply. I'll respond in a list.

1) That pic I previously posted was on a fresh boot, not even started using my mac yet (ie. not opened firefox, gruml, etc). I'll post a new one with most of my usual apps open. Note- this is AFTER I've freed up ram with iFreeMem (I shouldn't have to constantly).

2) When I actually get a few of my biggest apps open, wired jumps up to about 4gb+, which is ~50% of my total (8gb). Thats just too much.

3) I know that not everyone has big memory requirements, but I do. This is why I had to buy the extra 2gb, because I was commonly running out. I multitask about 12-18 apps at a time on a normal day. With my i5 quad-core and 8gb of ram, I'm sitting at about 80% capacity usage normally. And yes, I do need all that, its not superfluous.

4) The reason this wired memory thing is a problem is because its making it as if I didn't even add the extra 2gb. When that much is tied up in wired, it cant be released to inactive and therefore I end up having to close apps to get system stability. Which I shouldn't have to do (and didn't have to do when it worked right for a few days).

So. I ask all you mac/pc/computer/technology geniuses, genius to genius, what am I missing here? Is there a terminal command I can use, a boot argument, an app, anything I can do to fix this wired allocation issue?

Thanks very much guys.

PS- I never get slowdown, my CPU is powerful, its just if my ram fills up, everything crumbles. I shouldn't have to keep my eye manually on my ram all the time.

PPS- If I have to reinstall OSX ... :

 

[powerpcg5]

Can you clone your current setup to an external FW drive (Superduper), and then try to do a fresh install. See if the problem persists on the new install.

I do Photoshop, LightRoom, Final Cut, Digital Performer, Dreamweaver, plus a Virtual PC, etc... on my Mac. I could use more than 3GB, but even with 3GB, it's still good.

yeh I agree, your wired seems too much allocated. something is fishy here.

 

[sirbazz]

Additionally, my Free-mem app cannot touch wired memory, so it becomes useless.

I had a similar issue with the free-mem app after upgrading memory from 4gig to 8gig.

Ended up getting rid of it and just using the purge command as needed.

Obviously had to install Dev Tools to get purge, which is a big download for a little mem utility but was worth it for me.

bazz.